When you start a new project, Adobe Premiere Elements applies a project preset to it. A project preset is a collection of preconfigured project settings. You can use the default project preset of the television standard for the Adobe Premiere Elements version installed on your computer.

NTSC (National Television Standards Committee) is the television standard for the Americas, the Caribbean, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.

PAL (Phase Alternating Line) is the standard format for Europe, Russia, Africa, Middle East, India, Australia, New Zealand, South Pacific, China, and other parts of Asia.

Because you can’t change the project preset after starting a project, verify the format of your source footage before selecting a project preset.

Dynamic sequence preset

When you add a movie clip to the Expert view timeline,
Adobe Premiere Elements automatically changes your project settings
in the background to match the clip properties. They include dimension,
fps, pixel aspect ratio, and field order.

Select presets and change settings

Adobe Premiere Elements includes default project presets for media from common sources like cameras, DVD discs, and mobile phones among others.

You can select from a list of available presets, however, you cannot create custom presets. The presets for any project can only be selected at the time of creating the project. You cannot change the preset for a project after it has been created.

To select a project preset when starting a new project, click Change Settings in the New Project dialog and select the preset that matches your footage.

If you add a movie clip whose preset does not match the project’s preset, to the Expert view timeline, a message is displayed. Click Yes to let Adobe Premiere Elements change the project settings to use the closest available preset. For more information, see Dynamic Sequence Preset.

Select a project preset

By default, Adobe Premiere Elements uses an AVCHD preset for the television standard you specify when you install the program. Select a new preset to create projects in a different format, television standard, or frame aspect ratio.

The preset you select becomes the default, which is used for all new projects, until you select another preset. If you choose a preset temporarily, change it when you’ve finished using it.

Start Adobe Premiere Elements.

In the Welcome screen, click Video Editor, and then click
New Project. (Or, choose File > New > Project.)

In the New Project dialog box, click Change Settings.

Select the preset that matches the format and standard of the footage you want to edit.

Click OK.

Provide a name and location for your project, and click
OK.

Change settings for an existing project

After you create a project, you can only make
minor display-related changes to the project settings.

Note:

You
cannot change the Editing mode and the format of Preview files after
you create a project.

Check your project settings

Project presets include project
settings under three categories: General, Capture, and Video Rendering.
After you start a project, you can’t change most of the settings,
such as frame rate, size, and aspect ratio. However, you can review
the settings to ensure that the media you want to add to the project
is compatible.

Third‑party products, such as PCs, capture cards,
and hardware bundles sometimes include custom presets. See the third‑party
documentation for details.

NTSC vs PAL presets

NTSC presets conform to the NTSC standard,
where each video frame includes 525 horizontal lines displayed at
29.97 frames per second. The Standard NTSC preset applies to footage
that has a 4:3 aspect ratio. The Widescreen NTSC preset applies
to footage that has a 16:9 aspect ratio.

PAL presets conform
to the PAL standard, where each video frame includes 625 lines displayed
at 25 frames per second.

General settings

General
settings (Edit > Project Settings > General) control the fundamental characteristics
of a project. They include the editing mode used to process video, frame
size, aspect ratios, count time (Display Format), and playback settings (Timebase).
These settings match the most common source media in your project.
For example, if most of your footage is DV, use the DV Playback
editing mode. The quality of your video can deteriorate if you change
these settings arbitrarily.

General settings include the
following options.

Editing Mode

Identifies the television standard and format for the project. You cannot change the Timebase, Frame Size, Pixel Aspect Ratio, Fields, and Sample Rate preview settings. The editing mode determines these settings.

Note: The Editing Mode setting represents the specifications of the source media, not the final output settings. Specify output settings when you export a project.

Timebase

Specifies the time divisions used to calculate the time position
of each edit (PAL: 25, NTSC: 29.97).

Playback Settings

This button is available if you use a DV preset, a DV editing mode,
or install a plug‑in that provides additional playback functions.
For a DV editing mode, this option indicates where you want your
previews to play. For information on the playback settings for third‑party
plug-ins, see the developer documentation.

Frame Size

Specifies the frame pixels for your project playback. In
most cases, the frame size for your project matches the frame size
of your source media. You can’t change the frame size to compensate
for slow playback. However, you can adjust the playback settings:
Right-click/ctrl-click the monitor and choose Playback Settings.
Adjust the frame size of the output by changing the Export settings.

Pixel Aspect Ratio

Sets the aspect ratio for pixels. The video format (PAL or NTSC)
determines this ratio. If you use a pixel aspect ratio that is different
from your video, the video can appear distorted when you render
it and play.

Fields

Specifies the field dominance, or the order in which the two interlaced fields of each frame are drawn.

Display Format (video)

Specifies the way time appears throughout the project. The
time display options correspond to standards for editing video and motion‑picture
film. For DV NTSC video, choose 30-fps Drop‑Frame Timecode. For
DV PAL video, choose 25-fps Timecode.

Title Safe Area

Specifies the frame edge area to mark as a safe zone for
titles, so that titles aren’t cut off by TVs that zoom the picture.
A rectangle with crosshairs marks the title‑safe zone when you click
the Safe Zones button in the monitor. Titles require a wider safe
zone than action.

Action Safe Area

Specifies the frame edge area to mark as a safe zone for
action so that TVs that zoom the picture do not exclude the action.
A rectangle marks the action‑safe zone when you click the Safe Zones
button in the monitor.

Sample Rate

Identifies the audio sample rate for the project preset.
In general, higher rates provide better audio quality in projects,
but they require more disk space and processing. Record audio at
a high‑quality sample rate, and capture audio at the rate at which
it was recorded.

Display Format (audio)

Specifies whether audio time display is measured by using
audio samples or milliseconds. By default, time is displayed in
audio samples. However, you can display time in milliseconds for
sample‑level precision when you are editing audio.

Capture settings

Capture settings (Edit > Project Settings > Capture) control how video and audio are transferred directly from a deck. (Other Project Settingspanels do not affect capturing.)

Video Rendering settings

Video
Rendering settings control the picture quality, compression settings,
and color depth that Premiere Elements uses when
you play video from the Expert view timeline.

Allows Premiere Elements to use up to 32‑bit
processing, even if the project uses a lower bit depth. Selecting
this option increases precision but decreases performance.

File Format

Specifies the format of the preview video.

Compressor

Identifies the codec (compressor/decompressor) that Premiere Elements applies to generate movie previews.
The project preset defines the codec. You cannot change it because
it must conform to the DV standard.

Select this option to use still images efficiently in projects.
For example, you can use an image that has a duration of 2 seconds
in a 30-fps project. Premiere Elements creates
a 2‑second frame instead of 60 frames, each with a duration of 1/30
second. Deselect this option if projects encounter playback problems
when displaying still images.

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